Earl Bamber has told MotorsportWeek.com that Chip Ganassi is ‘the Daytona specialist’, ahead of the first 24 Hours of Daytona in the new GTP era of American prototype racing.
Bamber, one of the six Cadillac Chip Ganassi drivers across two cars, was bullish when asked by MotorsportWeek.com whether he feared the two Acura teams, Wayne Taylor and Meyer Shank Racing, “Chip is the Daytona specialist. He’s one at least seven times or something, but yeah, I would say he’s quite the Daytona specialist.”
Bamber also said his Porsche 919 experience hadn’t really impacted the Cadillac V-LMDh development, because all the drivers bring so many different things to the table. “It’s not really 919 thing, but just racing in general,” said the Kiwi. “I think all of us bring a wealth of different knowledge. Seb [Bourdais] from IndyCar, Renger [van der Zande], for prototypes, myself from GTLM and prototypes. And then Richard and Alex with prototypes and Formula E.
“With that great mixture, I think we’ve formed quite a strong driving crew between both, cars to get the most out of it,” concluded the two-times 24 Hours of Le Mans winner.
Speaking of the French endurance classic, the 32-year-old is keen to get back to the top class at the famous race. “That was one of the big motivations to move here, to go back to the top class, and to bring Cadillac back there,” he said.
“We’re taking on the challenge of being the first American manufacturer to win overall, and GM’s first win overall in the top prototype class as well. So if we can achieve everyone’s goal here, that will be a very proud moment.”
Finally, he echoed other drivers’ thoughts on Daytona, that it will be a race of attrition. “I think everyone would probably take another month or two if they had it, but I think we feel pretty ready to rip the band-aid off and go racing.”
“It’s a big challenge for everyone – reliability is a big topic, but we also didn’t run reliably last year and that car had raced for five or six years. These races are just tough to complete without a problem. I think we’ve got good pace and the mood in the team’s really, really good,” Bamber finished.
